Set of building blocks wherein each block has connecting means on three surfaces thereof



y 7, 1964 A. F. ARNOLD 3,139,698

SET OF BUILDING BLOCKS WHEREIN EACH BLOCK HAS CONNECTING MEANS ON THREESURFACES THEREOF Filed May 22, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l y INVENTOR.)Zrw/dZ/Zrzzalf BY a I 73% y 7, 1964 A. F. ARNOLD 3,139,698

SET OF BUILDING BLOCKS WHEREIN EACH BLOCK HAS CONNECTING MEANS ON THREESURFACES THEREOF Filed May 22, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet I2 3,139,698 SET OFBUILDING BLOCKS WHEREIN EACH BLOCK HAS CONNECTING MEANS N THREE SURFACESTHEREOF Arnold F. Arnold, Miller Place, N.Y., assignor to ParkerBrothers, Inc, Salem, Mass., a corporation of Maine Filed May 22, 1961,Ser. No. 111,592 6 Claims. (CI. 46-25) This invention relates to toybuilding blocks and has for its principal objects to provide a pluralityof blocks of several different basic shapes which can be attached, oneto another, in a variety of combinations to produce builtup structuresor figures, or to produce fanciful designs; to provide blocks which canbe attached to each other easily by direct pressing of a side or end ofone against a side or end of another; to provide blocks which are ofhollow, light weight construction and yet are sturdy; and to provideblocks which can be manufactured readily and economically.

As herein illustrated, the blocks are furnished in one or more sets,each set containing blocks with not less than three sides and not morethan six sides, and each block having, on at least one side, tongues andgrooves and, on at least one other side, a hole or pin. Some of theblocks have tongues and grooves on two sides and a hole or pin on atleast one other side; others have tongues and grooves on one side and ahole and pin on two other sides; and still others have tongues andgrooves on two sides and a hole and pin on two other sides. The blocksare of hollow monolithic construction, being comprised of a hardpolyethylene, and the tongues and grooves are also hollow and haveresilient walls. Preferably the ends of the tongues and the corners ofthe blocks are beveled.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a figure comprised of a plurality ofblocks assembled to represent a toy dog;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a structure comprised of a plurality ofblocks assembled to represent a vehicle;

FIG. 3 is an elevation of a cylindrical block showing a pin at one end,a hole at the other end, and tongues and grooves on the cylindricalsurface;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the cylindrical block, as seen from the rightend of FIG. 3, showing the hole therein;

FIG. 5 is an elevation, partly in section, of a cubical block showing apin at one end, a hole at the other end, tongues and grooves on twosides, and two smooth sides;

FIG. 6 is an end view taken from the right end of FIG. 5, showing thehole in that end;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the top side of the block shown in FIGS. 5 and6, showing the pin projecting from one end;

FIG. 8 is an elevation of a prism of right-triangular cross-section,showing a pin at one right side and tongues and grooves at the otherright side;

FIG. 9 is a side elevation taken from the left side of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an elevation, partly in section, of a prism ofright-triangular cross-section, showing a hole in one of the right sidesand tongues and grooves on the other right side;

FIG. 11 is a side elevation, as seen from the left side of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is an elevation of a prism of substantially equilateraltriangular cross-section, partly in section, showing a pin at one end, ahole at the other end, and tongues and grooves on one side;

FIG. 13 is an end elevation, as seen from the right end of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is an elevation of a rectangular block having a United StatesPatent 0 3,139,698 Patented July 7, 1964 "ice pin at one end, a hole atthe other end, tongues and grooves at two sides, and two smooth sides;and

FIG. 15 is an end elevation, as seen from the right end of FIG. 14.

Referring to the drawings, there are shown five units of basic shape, towit, a cylindrical block (FIGS. 3 and 4); a cubical block (FIGS. 5, 6and 7); a rectangular, half-a-cube, block (FIGS. 14 and 15); a prismaticblock of right-triangular section (FIGS. 8 to 11); and a prismatic blockof equilateral triangular section (FIGS. 12 and 13).

In the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a typical figure of a dog embodying, inits fabrication, three of the basic units, to wit, cubical blocks 10,rectangular blocks 26, and prisms of right-triangular section 60. FIG. 2illustrates a wheeled toy embodying, in its fabrication, two of thebasic units, to wit, cubical blocks 10 and the cylindrical blocks 88.These two figures are simply representative of what can be made bycombining the several basic units and are in no way intended to belimiting as to the possible combinations which may be made up.

Each of the units is a hollow monolithic structure comprised of a linearor hard polyethylene composition which provides rigidity, strength andresilience.

The first basic unit, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, is a cubical block 10which has tongues and grooves 12 and 14 on two of its sides, a pin 16projecting from one of two other parallel sides, a hole 18 in the sideparallel thereto, and two parallel fiat sides 20 and 22. As clearlyindicated in FIG. 5, the tongues and pin, as well as the body of theblock, are hollow. In order to strengthen the structure and eliminatepoints of failure, the ends of the tongues 12 are beveled as shown at24.

The second basic unit is of quadiilateral construction, as shown inFIGS. 14 and 15, and comprises a block 26 having two sides 28 and 30which are square and four sides which are oblong. A hole 32 is providedin one of the square sides 30, a pin 34 on the other of the square sides28, tongues and grooves 36 and 38 on two of the oblong sides, and theremaining two oblong sides are flat. The block 26 is substantially halfof one of the blocks 10. The block is hollow, the tongues and pin arehollow and the ends of the tongues are beveled at 40.

The third unit, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, comprises a prism 42 whichis triangular in cross-section, the sides 44, 46 and 46 beingsubstantially equal in length. The side 46 has on it tongues and grooves50 and 52. One end has a hole 54 and the other end a pin 56. Theremaining two sides 44 and 48 are flat. Like the preceding units, thetongues and pin are hollow as is the body of the block and the tonguesare beveled as shown at 58.

The fourth unit (FIGS. 8 and 9) comprises a prism 66 of right-triangularsection. One of the right sides 62 has on it a pin 64 and the other 66 aplurality of tongues and grooves 68 and 70. The block is hollow, thetongues are hollow, and the ends of the tongues are beveled at 72. Thecorners, at the junction of the right side 62 and the hypotenuse side74, with the ends 76 and 78 are beveled at 80.

The unit shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 is a variation of that shown in FIGS.8 and 9, in that it is provided with a hole 82 in one of the right sidesin place of the pin. The other right side has tongues and grooves 84 and86.

The fifth unit (FIGS. 3 and 4) is a right cylinder 88. One end of thecylinder contains a hole 90, the other end a pin 92, and the cylindricalsurface has on it tongues 94 and grooves 96. The pin and tongnies arehollow as well as the body of the block.

As previously pointed out, the blocks are comprised of a hardpolyethylene which is resilient in contrast to being compressible sothat the blocks may be attached to each other by forcing the tongues ofone into the grooves of amaeas the other, orthe pin of one into the holeof another. The pressure required to eifect-interengagement displacesthe resilient material just enough so that after engagement the partsare held together by constriction of one part on another so thatstructures can be fabricated from the blocks which are 'selfsustaining.Self-sustaining units of this kind are preferred to those which requireconnections such as undercut or so-called dovetail grooves and tongues,ball-type pins and sockets, and/ or snap fasteners, and the like, all ofwhich require special techniques in their manufacture, increase thecost, and limit the freedom of association of the parts.

The blocks are monolithic in structure and are made by a process ofblow-molding as distinguished from injection molding. The simplicity oftheir structure makes manufacture by blow-molding economical andinvolves no difiiculties in the manufacture of the molds themselves.Advantage is taken of the fact that the hard polyethylene has a certainamount of inherent shrinkage so that, after the blocks are molded, thesmall amount of shrinkage which takes place enhances the gripping actionof the tongues and grooves and the gripping action of the pins andholes.

It is, of course, within the scope of the invention to make the blocksof the same or different colors to further excite interest in buildingfigures of various kinds. It is contemplated that the blocks will besold in quantities of six or more units of the five basic units.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a set of building blocks, the combination of a plurality of hollowblocks of several predetermined geometrical shapes, each block havingwalls which delimit its shape, the block with the least number of wallshaving no less than three walls, the block with the greatest number ofwalls having no more than six walls, each of said blocks having at leastone wall but no more than two walls which embody a plurality of tonguesand grooves of right section, enabling joining the blocks wallto-wall byengagement of the tongues on a wall of one block within the grooves on aWall of another block while permitting relative displacement of thejoined blocks in the plane of the adjoining walls, one of the remainingwalls containing a hole perpendicular to its surface, and anothermounting a pin perpendicular to its surface, said pin correspondingsubstantially in diameter to said hole, said hole and pin enablingjoining the blocks wall-to-wall by engagement of the pin on a wall ofone block within a hole in the wall of another block while permittingrelative rotation of the blocks about an axis perpendicular to the planeof the adjoining walls, said tongues and pins being hollow extensions ofthe hollow interior of the blocks and elastically interengageable withthe grooves and holes, respectively.

2. A set of blocks according to claim 1 wherein two of the walls of someof the, blocks each embodies a plurality of said tongues and grooves.

3. A set of blocks according to claim 1 wherein one of the blocks is aright cylinder of circular cross-section and the cylindrical wallembodies said plurality of tongues and grooves.

4. A set of blocks according to claim 1, wherein one of the blocks is aprism of triangular section having three side walls parallel to the axisof the prism and two end walls perpendicular to the axis of the prism,one of the side Walls embodies said plurality of tongues and grooves,one of the end walls contains said hole, and the other end wall mountssaid pin.

5. A set of blocks according to claim 1 characterized in that the endsof the tongues are beveled.

6. A set of blocks according to claim 1, characterized in that thecorners of the blocks are beveled.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.6,356 Crandall Mar. 30, 1879 1,182,980 Converse May 16, 1916 1,736,134Rutherford Nov. 19, 1929 2,565,823 Pool Aug. 28, 1951 2,631,747 StolteMar. 17, 1953 2,649,803 Andre Aug. 25, 1953 2,674,827 Schaper Apr. 13,1954 2,810,233 Iakobsen Oct. 22, 1957 2,861,388 Favaretto Nov. 25, 19582,972,833 Grutta Feb. 28, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,198,239 7 France June8, 1959

1. IN A SET OF BUILDING BLOCKS, THE COMBINATION OF A PLURALITY OF HOLLOWBLOCKS OF SEVERAL PREDETERMINED GEOMETRICAL SHAPES, EACH BLOCK HAVINGWALLS WHICH DELIMIT ITS SHAPE, THE BLOCK WITH THE LEAST NUMBER OF WALLSHAVING NO LESS THAN THREE WALLS, THE BLOCK WITH THE GREATEST NUMBER OFWALLS HAVING NO MORE THAN SIX WALLS, EACH OF SAID BLOCKS HAVING AT LEASTONE WALL BUT NO MORE THAN TWO WALLS WHICH EMBODY A PLURALITY OF TONGUESAND GROOVES OF RIGHT SECTION, ENABLING JOINING THE BLOCKS WALLTO-WALL BYENGAGEMENT OF THE TONGUES ON A WALL OF ONE BLOCK WITHIN THE GROOVES ON AWALL OF ANOTHER BLOCK WHILE PERMITTING RELATIVE DISPLACEMENT OF THEJOINED BLOCKS IN THE PLANE OF THE ADJOINING WALLS, ONE OF THE REMAININGWALLS CONTAINING A HOLE PERPENDICULAR TO ITS SURFACE, AND ANOTHERMOUNTING A PIN PERPENDICULAR TO ITS SURFACE, SAID PIN CORRESPONDINGSUBSTANTIALLY IN DIAMETER TO SAID HOLE, SAID HOLE AND PIN ENABLINGJOINING THE BLOCKS WALL-TO-WALL BY ENGAGEMENT OF THE PIN ON A WALL OFONE BLOCK WITHIN A HOLE IN THE WALL OF ANOTHER BLOCK WHILE PERMITTINGRELATIVE ROTATION OF THE BLOCKS ABOUT AN AXIS PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANEOF THE ADJOINING WALLS, SAID TONGUES AND PINS BEING HOLLOW EXTENSIONS OFTHE HOLLOW INTERIOR OF THE BLOCKS AND ELASTICALLY INTERENGAGEABLE WITHTHE GROOVES AND HOLES, RESPECTIVELY.